McCann’s first Yankees rain out… in November?

Yankee fans are waiting (in the rain) for McCann.

If you’re a Yankees fan, you’re excited and thankful to have a new catcher. But, if you’re looking to see Brian McCann in pinstripes at an introductory news conference before Thanksgiving, it’s 

likely you’ve grabbed the short end of the wishbone.

Our boy Wallace Matthews reports on ESPN New York that McCann’s trip to the Bronx for a physical and press conference is likely to be postponed by severe weather. Matthews writes:

“According to a Yankee source, the club would like to fly McCann in from his Atlanta-area home either today or tomorrow, but forecasts of a severe rain-and-wind storm later this afternoon may well push everything back to next week. The concern is that once McCann arrives here, he will not be able to return home in time to spend the holiday with his family.”

Matthews also quotes the Yankees source as saying, "The odds are we won't see him (in New York) until next week.

-- rain --

You are looking live...

I love live street cameras, particularly this one outside Wrigley Field.

As Chicago braces for a storm that is expected to drop 4-8 inches of snow by Tuesday night, just a few short weeks before the opening day of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, today would be a good day to pull up the street cam on your laptop or tablet or whatever and watch the snow pile up on the street in front of the legendary field.

That is unless you're at work. We don't won't to slow your roll at work today by encouraging you to sit at your desk, drink loads of coffee and watch snow fall.

By the way, the above screen grab was taken at about 9:24 Central time this morning.

One more thing: Could someone clean the rain/ice off the Arch Cam in St. Louis? Thanks!

Update: The weather guy on HLN just said Chicago could get up to 10 inches of snow from this storm. Wow. Keep you eyes on that Wrigley Field cam, unless you live in Chicago. In that case, get to work. As my wife says: the snow is not going to shovel itself! 

Braving the Rain

Before the Braves and Marlins could start the sixth inning last night, rain fell at Turner Field and delayed night's baseball game in Atlanta for an hour and 53 minutes. 

The photo above, on loan to me from the Braves Facebook page, shows Jason Heyward standing on deck as ominous clouds gathered. (Did I really need to write that sentence? You can plainly see what is happening.) 

Anyway, the Braves went on to thump the Miami Marlins 7-1 for their 10th victory in their last 13 games. The Braves hot streak inches them a bit closer – two and half games behind – to the N.L. East-leading Washington Nationals, who somehow was thumped by what's left of the last place Philadelphia Phillies last night. 

MLB Gets Rain Out Insurance

Major League Baseball has teamed up with Storm Exchange, Inc. for a pretty good insurance plan to protect teams financially against rain outs, snow outs and other weather-related risks. The newly-announced Weather Hedging Program for Major League Baseball provides teams with a way to offset the financial impact of rain and unseasonably cold temperatures. Read more about the plan at centredaily.com.

Hunter Checked Out Too Soon To Meet Wx Gal at Derby

Yesterday, my pal Chad in Tennessee said this sports weather blog thing may attract a larger readership if I posted photos of Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel. After all, Awful Announcing has picks of the weather chick all over its page with posts about the weather for the ALCS in Cleveland, Chad said. So, I took Chad's advice and posted a photo (see below) of Stephanie. That photo is probably the most popular shot of her for obvious reasons. Later, I wondered if Stephanie is a sports fan or has any background in athletics. Turns out, she has covered some significant sporting events for The Weather Channel. According to her TWC bio, Stephanie's assignments since joining the network in 2003 have included "on-the-scene weather reports from major sporting events in the country like The Daytona 500, The Kentucky Derby, The Chicago Marathon, and Major League Baseball spring training." Stephanie is a graduate of the University of Florida and received a bachelor's degree in meteorology from Florida State, or as she was quoted in a U. of Florida alumni magazine, "that other university in Florida." The screen capture above is of Stephanie at the 2005, I think, Kentucky Derby. There. That should increase my Web hits, and steal readers away from Awful Announcing and Deadspin and maybe even Profootballtalk.com.